Time to give priority to those on foot (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Time to give priority to those on foot

5:27pm Friday 4th May 2007

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Green or obscene?
Miles in car: -344 (mainly because of weekend away)
Miles being driven: 0
Miles by train: +320
Miles by bike: 0
Miles by coach: +70
Miles on foot: +70
Total: +116 (running total -419)

Getting about on your own two feet is a win-win: it is good for your health and it means you’re not using a more polluting form of transport.

And it’s what the human body is designed to do. Since the origins of Homo sapiens on the plains of Africa when we stood up and released our hands from being dragged over the savannah for more fruitful uses, the human race has walked everywhere - usually by the straightest possible line.

These days, pedestrianisation schemes have made walking easier in many town and city centres but planners are still paying lip service to the needs of pedestrians and still think the car is king.

That’s why pedestrian crossings are placed where they fit in with traffic flow and why it takes so long for the lights to turn red (often waiting until there isn’t any traffic coming anyway).

Those planners think people will be coralled into these pinch points but, people being people, they are more likely to make a bee-line across a road where it suits them. This disregard for vehicles means many pedestrians launch themselves across the carriageway with barely a glance at what’s coming, expecting drivers to slow or stop for them.

It’s a dangerous policy but can you really blame them for exercising their right to roam the streets. After all, walkers had equal rights on the roads with other traffic until increasing numbers of cars, lorries and buses forced a division.

That’s why if we are to help make drivers think twice about using their cars, we have to back to the drawing board and give priority to those on foot.

Why not look at where people naturally cross the road and put a crossing there? Why not turn the lights red quickly and stop the traffic - they are there for the pedestrians after all aren’t they? Why not force developers to put in adequate walkways in their retail parks and edge-of-town shopping centres so they can be accessed on foot?

And why not have a car-free day every once in a while like cities do on the Continent so motorists actually realise how wonderful cars are? What used to take hours in the days of original horsepower now takes just minutes. Vehicles are taken so much for granted that they are overused and abused - taking life slower on foot would make people appreciate that.